Invading Memories
by x-Crimson-Ebony-x
Summary: Sonic and Co' sedate Shadow in order to find out more about his mysterious past. Tails has invented a new machine that enable Sonic to enter Shadows head and see his memories. His happiness and his pain. What will they uncover? Chapter 5 up!
1. How to catch a hedgehog

**Disclaimer - I do not own any of the SEGA characters mentioned in this story blah blah blah... etc...**

**Invading Memories**

**Chapter 1 - How to catch a hedgehog**

Sonic had been keeping Shadow on his feet for almost 3 hours before Tails, Chris, Amy and Chris' uncle Chuck appeared in the X-Tornado behind the racing duo. For the first time in his life, Sonic was struggling to keep up with Shadow as the ebony hedgehog just didn't seem to get tired at all. "Give it up Faker! You can't outrun me!" laughed Shadow as Sonic and the rest lagged behind.

"Uh... Hey... Guys..." Panted Sonic as he looked into the cockpit of the plane at his friends.

"Hold on Sonic! Keep him running straight for a few more minutes!" Yelled Tails,

"We got the strongest sedative that we could. Just let me sort out this gun first," Exclaimed Chuck,

"Great...uhhh..." Sonic was really starting to feel the burn on his legs and the friction being whipped up by his red sneakers.

It wasn't long before Chris' uncle managed to sort out the tranquiliser gun, "Ah-ha! Got it!"

"Promise it wont hurt him uncle," asked Chris

"Well it wont be entirely painless for him but as soon as it hits his blood stream he'll be fast asleep in no time," and with that a loud puff filled the air and a dart flew out of the, now open, cockpit of the X-Tornado, zoomed past Sonic and straight into the neck of the blue hedgehog's dark counterpart.

"What the-" Shadow lost his grip on the teraferma beneath him after the sudden shock of a needle penetrating through his black fur and into his skin. He tripped abruptly, rolling and scraping akwardly along the ground and came to a halt face-first.

Sonic finally skidded to a stop and collapsed on the floor with exhaustion, breathing heavily. He had never really felt the constricting pain of his lungs, writhing in his body like this for a long long time. Shadow had really pushed him to his limits. Chris and Amy went to aid the asphysxiating blue hedgehog while Tails and Chuck went to check on Shadow, who still had the bright yallow dart in his neck. "Be careful Chuck, he's extremely dangerous remember. He could just be playing around," warned Tails,

"It's ok Tails, I think he's out cold. And anyway, that sedative is able to bring down a fully grown elephant. I think it could knock him out," The grey-haired man knelt down next to Shadow and gently pulled the needle from his neck. The hedgehog winced adn Chuck jumped back.

"No fair,"

Shadows head fell limply back into the dirt.

**~~~Authors Note~~~**

**Well? Tell me what you think!**

**I will post new chapters as I complete them so dont worry haha :D There will be plenty more to this story!**


	2. Tails' Machine

**Me: Well heres chapter 2 ;D Hope you like it! Cuz if you dont... I'll get Shadow on ya!**

**Sonic: How can you when he's lying on that table over there unconcious?**

**Me: Im the author! I can easily write hime back to conciousness**

**Sonic: Oh yea ^^**

**Me: Now shoo...**

**Sonic: Oi!**

**Me: (Writes on piece of paper) And then... Sonic ran out... of the room for... no reason.. There.**

**Sonic: Hurray! Now I am leaving this room for no reason! (Runs away like a retard)**

**Me: Btw, thats from Futurama (which I dont own) haha :D**

**Tails: Also in answer to the review for Chapter 1 made by 'Jessi'. The reason we have captured Shadow should be explained in this Chapter :)**

**Me: And for 'Kat' aswell... there is a note for you at the end of this installation of my story XD**

**Chapter 2 - Tails' Machine**

The X-tornado landed outside of Tails' lab with Shadow fast asleep in the back. Chris and Sonic quickly jumped out and grabbed the helpless hedgehog from the plane and carried him up to the from door (Which the kitsune had locked for safe measures). His arms fell limply over the shoulders of the aiding duo. Meanwhile, Chuck, Amy and the fox climbed out and a leisurly pace, like this was nothing new. "Hurry up will ya!" Yelled an impatient blue hedgehog, "Shadow ways more than a feather y'know!"

"Calm down Sonic, we're comming" Replied Chuck

"Here..." Tails said, throwing the door keys to him, "It's the one with the orange stripe on it!"

"What? Why can't you just open the door?"

"Because... Me and Chuck need to get this in the garage,"

"Can't it wait?"

"SONIC!" Interrupted Chris

"What?" He shrugged

"Just open the door"

"Fine, hold hi for a moment" Sonic dumped Shadow into Chris' arms, who buckled slightly under his weight.

"Geez Shadow, you weigh a bit. With all the running you do, I thought you would be as light as a feather" He murmured as he adjusted the black hedgehog into a more comfortable position. His spines were quite sharp and dug into the teenage human's side, piercing his skin slightly and drawing a little blood. But Chris' didn't seemed to have noticed.

Amy was looking at Chris and Shadow with the upmost curiosity. "I wonder why he looks so much like Sonic? Maybe they're related somehow",

"I don't think they're related at all Amy. I think it's just a mere coincidence" Chucks voice made the pink hedgehog jump, "After all, we know Shadow was created, not born, and that was over half a century ago,"

"Heh, I guess you're right" She smiled "Too bad that's all we know about him"

"Indeed, but that is the exact reason we caught him in the first place remember?"

"Oh yeah"

Amy and Chuck looked at Shadow, then at Chris and then at Sonic who had just managed to get the door open. "I'm no good with keys," He dropped the keys beside a potted plant that sat casually on the window cill, "Here, Lets get him inside. Its almost dark... Hey Amy, You commin'?"

"Oh my god!"

"huh?"

"hehehe... yes"

Amy walked past Sonic giving him a cute wink on her way inside as she followed Chris and Shadow. Sonic sweatdropped as he glanced to Chuck and Tails who were giggling amongst themselves. "Stop it! Stop laughing!"

"Haha... oh sorry Sonic" Chuck laughed and walked through the door, throwing Sonic a quick wink, mimicking Amy. Sonic's eyes narrowed has his gaze followed the aged human.

"Don't worry about it Sonic. You know what he's like when you and Amy are close."

"Heh I guess"

"C'mon"

The gang walked into Tails' main lab space and signalled Sonic and Chris to place the sleeping Shadow in a glass room that occupied the centre. Inside this roo there was a single, chrome-steel bedstead with plain white sheets and around it, were numerous machines; each one as unusual as the last. It looked so clean, so plain, so sterile. The orange kitsune had been working on this stuff ever since Shadow appeared on the scene.

The hedgehog had a deep past, shrouded in mystery. The only information about him they had was that he was created over 50 years ago as the final outcome of Professor Gerald Robotnic's years of research. But what research? No-one knew apart from the most high ranking of G.U.N Officers, who were alive when it happened. The gang could get close to this minor percentage of people, which meant they had to fine out for themselves. Which was no problem for the likes of Miles Prower.

Chris layed Shadow down on the metal bed and walked away while Tails hooked him up to the machines. Shadow had pads stuck all over his body; 4 on his head, 1 on each arm and leg and 3 on his chest. Each of these machines monitored a different part of his being. His pulse and blood pressure. His brainwaves and mental activity. Also, 2 machnes that made sure he was kept under the sedative and a final machine that stood outside the glass containment chamber which was made for the likes of 1 person to enter Shadow's mind; to find out all the hidden details of his life that GUN didnt even know.

"Are you sure this'll work?" asked Amy

"It should do..." Tails replied

"Should?" Said Chris as his face paled and showed a lot of concern,

"Well it's never been tested properly..."

"Wonderful" Sonic twitched with sarcasm, "So whos off inside the fakers head?"

"Im not sure," Tails pondered to himself for a breif moment before his head pricked up and looked a the blue anthropomorph"How about you?" He said pointing to his best friend.

"WHAT? ME?!"

"Yeah"

"Why me?"

"You're the one whos got the most in common with Shadow and because of those similarities it will help avoid any complications."

"Complications?" Asked Chuck which was quite odd in Tails' eyes as he's the one who help design the whole thing,

"First of all, something could go wrong and, say if I went in, my brainwaves could merge with his which could lead to our personalities merging forever. Whereas if Sonic enters his mind, Shadows brainwaves will remain seperated."

"Oh I get it now" There was a short pause.

"Are you sure you're up for it Sonic? I mean what if you get trapped inside his head? Or worse?!" Amy shook Sonic hard as she yelled in his face but he just had a blank expression on his face and didn't want to know what 'worse' was. He gulped and merely replied with a straight "Yes"

Tails beckoned him over the chrome machine that pierced his mind so menacingly. The kitsune attached the same number of pads to Sonic as Shadow had but Sonic was given 2 rings just to be safe and that worried him deeply. With that Tailspushed a few buttons and the machine burst into action emmiting a loud whirring sound. Before Sonic could change his mind about the whole situation, his friend pulled a large white lever and the world around him began to fade. Black was now all he could see. Sonic felt like his heart was jumping out of his chest and his mind was being sucked out like a vacuum when all of a sudden he started to hear voices. Voices that he had never heard before.

"Oh Grandfather, he's adorable!"

**~~~Authors Note~~~**

**Well theres Chapter 2. Hope you liked it! **

**Also Thankyou 'Kat' for my first review (claps)... I thought you deserve that! ^^**

**Chapter 3 will be up here soon hopefully YAY!!!!**


	3. Suprises

**Hey hey! Ladies and gentlemen... I present CHAPTER 3!!! Whooo Hurray! (applaudes) .**

**Well I hope you like and I want to that you all for my ace reviews, especially 'Kat' ^^ Haha and not forgetting 'Storm the Albatross' XD Lol**

**Enjoys people!!! REVIEW!!!**

**Chapter 3 - Suprises for all**

Sonic opened his eyes and awoke to find himself lying face-down on a cold steel floor. Slowly getting to his feet and rubbing his eyes, he jumped back, putting his hand on his heart because infront of him; his emerald eyes met the glowing radiance of the blue planet he had come to call home. He was in space, which meant Tails' machine had worked! He was inside Shadows mind. 'Wait... If this is Shadows memory, then where is he?' Sonic thought to himself for a moment though his eyes were still fixed to the sphere outside the reinforced glass. His ears began to twitch slightly as he heard the sound of footsteps heading in his direction. He span around and saw a blonde girl running towards him and the blue hedgehog fell back onto the floor as she ran straight through him and off down the corridoor. Sonic stared for a moment before snapping back to reality and saw that his gloved hand was translucent, along with the rest of his entire being. This time, he leapt into the air and quickly caught up with the girl, following her into a large room in which one man occupied. The old man turned around and he looked uncannily like Eggman. He had a greying moustache and a long white lab coat that fell to the back of his knees.

"Hello Grandfather," she greeted

'So that must be Professor Gerald huh?' he thought to himself,

"Hello Maria"

"You wanted to see me?"

"Indeed... I have a suprise for you dear"

"Oh a suprise? What is it?" Maria started looking giddy and lightly jumped up and down on the spot,

"Maria, I'd like you to meet my latest creation...Shadow!" He called over his shoulder and Sonic could just stand there in awe as the familliar black anthropomorph stepped shyly to Gerald's side. Shadow didn't look nearly as ferocious and deadly as Sonic knew him, he had a silent glint of upmost curiosity in his ruby red eyes.

"Oh grandfather! He's adorable!" The girl bent down on her knees and came face to face with the ebony figure, "Hello, Im Maria" she held out one hand. Shadow tilted his head and then glanced up to the professor who simple nodded in return. Then he shook Maria's hand and replied with a short "Hi"

Sonic couldnt believe his eyes. It was Shadow, 50 years in the past, only it wasnt the Shadow that Sonic knew and had come to despise. The black hedgehog was smiling; a genuine smile crossed his face showing his blistering whit canines. "Well now that you two have met, Maria? Would you fancy showing him around the ARK?"

"Sure thing"

"I hope you will have a good time"

"We will and one more thing grandpa...."

"Oh and what might that be?"

"Why did you make him a hedgehog?"

'Yeah? Why is he a hedgehog?' Sonic thought. The girl gently stroked one of Shadows striped quills as Gerald replied,

"Because Maria, I know that your favourite animal is a hedgehog." He smiled and Maria grinned widely in return.

"Thanks" She took Shadows hand and ran towards the metal doors "C'mon Shadow, Ill show you everything!"

Sonic knew this was Shadows memory, so if he got to far away from him. It would dissapear and he would end up somewhere else, but before he could give chase, Sonic fell to the floor feelin extremely dizzy and sick. He becan to groan with pain however, started to lift his head. The image of the man in the white lab coat begam to fade before his eyes and the blue hedgehog felt like he was being sucked down a giant drain of... stuff... Suddenly, everything went black once more.

Meanwhile, back in Tails' workshop, everyone was stood around the real Sonic as he lay on the floor with the pads keeping him stable. Apart from Chris, who was stood with his face pressed against the galss of the chamber where Shadows body lye.

"I hope he's okay in there" Said Amy

"He will... Afterall, it is Sonic" replied Tails

"But what is Shadow sees him inside his mind?"

"Impossible. Sonic will be invisible to everyone in there. Hes just watching a memory."

"You'd better be right Tails"

Back where Chris had been stood, an imprint remained on the glass as he had moved around to get closer to Shadow. The boy looked onward and noticed the hedgehogs gloved hand began to clench and slowly release. He gasped and ran off as fast as he could. Not telling anyone what he saw, he ran straight out the workshop doors.

**~~~Authors Note~~~**

**Dun dun duuuun......**

**Lol well what d'yall think? I wanna know!!! NOW! haha**

**There will be more memories to come, each one as amazing as the last! Well, nah im not self centred but I hope they'll be good! :D**

**Im staring to write Chapter 4 tomorrow... If i can be bothered**


	4. Reasoning and the New arrivals

**Wooo :D Chapter 4 is up! Lol... Im not sure how many chapters there will be but in response to a review posted by 'SloganLogan', there will be action, violence and parts were Shadow hurts people in later chapters so don't fret... Im trying to put as much as I can into this story as possible so just keep reading... Please :D Btw, just to let you know, I dont think this chapter is very good but I thought I better put something in the middle so its not just memory after memory :)**

**Chapter 4 - Explanations**

Chris was sitting outside as the stars shone brightly above him. He was breathing heavily and couldn't come to terms with what had just happened. Was it real? Was Shadow waking up with Sonic still in his head? Or was he just seeing things? The human had so many thoughts running through his head but one stood out more than them all... Why did he care so much? I mean it wasn't a big deal really. Was it any reason to run off like he did?

He suddenly snapped back to reality as Chuck appeared at his side. Chris' running didn't go unoticed like he had hoped. "What was that all about?" asked his uncle,

"What?"

"You... Running off like that?"

"Oh... It was... Nothing" he stuttered

"Hmmm... I don't think it was nothing"

Before Chris could hold his tounge, "Why do you care?" These word were cold and saw that they stung Chuck a little. He didn't mean to say that, none-the-less, Chuck merely sighed.

"Because, Chris, You my nephew and care a great deal about you, and I know something is bothering you a lot"

"I'm sorry" the boy let out a huge sigh and his eyes fixed back on the sky, "Its just... I thought I saw Shadows hand move," he took a deep breath and continued, "His fist clenched and it looked to me like he was about to mentally punched someone. I mean what if he _has_ seen Sonic. He could kill him!"

This sounded all to crazy for Chuck's liking but it was plausable. "I see, but is that any reason to run off like that? Why did you run?"

To be honest, Chris didnt even know why he did it. Its the first time he thought about it, "I have no idea; it all sounds so stupid now,"

"Not stupid. Just unexplainable." Chuck looked lovingly at his nephew as they were the only real family they had. "Now lets go back inside,Im sure Tails' and Amy are bored. Lets go have some fun" He smiled

'Fun? How can you possibly have fun? This_ is _stupidity' thought Chris as they both walked back inside where it was warm-ish. Well warmer than outside.

Inside, Tails and Amy had pulled up some chairs because the cold floor was most uncomfortable. Every now-and-then they would look at eachother as if to be having mental convosations. That is until Chuck and Chris made their way back into the lab. "Where did you two go?" quizzed Amy

"Chris just... needed some fresh air" his uncle lied. It wasn'y that important, he needed an excuse was it?

"Its understandable" replied Tails

"So anything happen yet?"

"No, nothing. Both of them are stable"

"Looks like its working perfectly then"

"Yep, listen..." Tails got up from his chair and walked over to the duo while Amy was gazing lovingly and concerningly at Sonic. "D'you want anything to eat or drink. We'll probably be here a while?"

"Sure, I'm famished!" Said Chuck

"Chris?"

"Okay but just something small. Im not that hungry"

"Alright...Toast sound good?"

"Yeah"

"Cool... Amy, you want anything getting?" Tails turned to the pink hedgehog who jumped at the sudden address made to her,

"Oh er... just a glass of water please"

"Awesome... I'll be back in a minute!" The kitsune smiled and walked out of the lab and into the kitchen, which had to be one of the most organised rooms in the whole place. Tails has put labels on all the draws and cupboards and it was spotless. Not a utensil out of place. The orange fox wasnt the best cook in the world but this wasnt a 5 star restaurant either.

He reappeared in the lab about 15 minutes later with a white tray full of toast, fruit and numerous glasses of water, "Here you go guys, tuck in"

Everyone immediately grabbed something and sat back down in their chairs. They all remained quiet until the voice of a certain boy broke the silence. "Tails?"

"hmm?" he looked up at Chris,

"How do we get Sonic back? You know, out of Shadows head?"

"Well its gonna be harder than sending him in" Tails smiled but Chris simply tilted his head. Unsure what to make of the last statement, "We're gonna have to wake him up at the right speed. If he wakes up to fast, the shock will kill both of them, but too slowly and Shadow will feel it and for god sake, we dont want him to be the first one to regain conciousness!" But before Chris could reply, a load bang echoed through the workshop. "What the hell?!"

Amy was gripping to Chris arm and Chris was gripping to Chuck who just stood there unsure to what had happened. Tails was slowly reaching out for the door handle when whe was throw back by the sheer force of the doors opening on him. 2 figures were standing in the frame of the door. Amy eyes widened. "Why the fuck did you two have to scare us half to death!?" The rest of them stared at Amy who obviously knew who the two figures were and before they could ask questions, the lights turned on and they saw the familiar faces of Rouge and Knuckles looking confused.

"What? the door was locked" said Knuckles shrugging his shoulders,

"Is that ay reason to blow 'em off their hinges though?!"

"I guess not"

"Look, he'll fix 'em. We just came here after we heard you'd manage to catch Shadow" interupted the white bat

Tails was now back on his feet and dusted himself off "Sorry bout that Tails" apologised the red Echidna

"Ah its ok"

"So what are you two doing here" Asked Chuck

"We had nothing else to do and after we found out you had Shadow captured, we thought we'd lend a hand incase he woke up at a bad time"

"I mean stealin jewels is fun but its getting old. Its just the same thing day in, day out y'know?"

"I see, well pull up a chair, have some food"

"Oh don't mind if I do" said Knuckles running to the pile of toast

"You greedy pig" announced Rouge

The whole lot of them laughed as they sat down and began to talk. Unbeknown to them what was going on inside the mind of Sonics dark counterpart.

**~~~Authors Note~~~**

**Ta-Da! Chapter 4!**

**I promise there is going to be action in later chapters and I think i may have to re-rate it :D hehe**

**I just thought I should throw in a few more Characters to make it a bit more fun Lol**

**Dont forget to post Reviews, I love to hear from you all!**

**Chapter 5 will be up here ASAP :) Just gotta write it first haha, thats right! Im just making it up as I go along! XD**


	5. Another lesson, another thing to learn

**Sonic: Your back!?**

**Me: I am so sorry it has taken me… how many months has it been? I don't remember… It has been that long?! Woah**

**Sonic: You should be sorry… I've been doing nothing for… HOW MANY MONTHS!!!! God… seriously I cant work in these conditions!**

**Me: Uuuh? Sorry? Anyway here is chapter 5! I hope you like it!**

**Chapter 5 - Another memory, another thing to learn.**

Once more, Sonic awoke to find himself face down on the cold floor again. As he slowly regained consciousness , he saw his ebony double gazing aimlessly out of a huge reinforced glass window, alone (Or as far as he knew). It was quiet and Sonic took this moment to take in his surroundings. 'This looks really familiar' he thought and something else told him the Shadow was in deep thought. Suddenly, a certain blonde girl entered through the sliding metal door.

"Are you going to stare out that window all day Shadow?" she asked. Sonic just moved closer and stood next to his dark doppelganger, watching and listening intently.

"I've seen photographs from down on the surface but I wonder what its like to be there… What is it like to see the sky above your head? I'd like to visit there and find out," replied Shadow with a mixture of curiosity and anxiety hidden in his velvet voice.

"Me too," Maria smiled and placed one of her hands on the shoulder of the anthropomorphic hedgehog, he simply closed his eyes and tilted his head towards the ground.

"Maybe I can find some answers down there. Professor Robotnik said I'm here to do something important, though he never told me what that means," he said opening his eyes, "but something tells me its connected with _that_ planet."

At this point, Sonic had sat down cross-legged with his back against the glass watching the conversing duo. Maria seemed rather confused and didn't seem sure what to say in response to Shadow last comment. "Hmm… You think way to much Shadow,"

"I can't help it. Its who I am… How I was made…" he paused

"You should try and relax a bit more; concentrate on your training first,"

'Training?' thought Sonic

Shadow smirked, "Maybe you're right,"

"Of course I am!" Maria laughed, looking at her best friend and he looked back at his best friend. Sonic could sense that their friendship was strong bond, practically unbreakable and he sighed. "Look, when I was young Grandfather taught me this;" She knelt down and was now just a little shorter than Shadow, however, their eyes when still firmly locked on each other, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift…" Maria got back on her feet, "that's why its called the present." (A/N: Kung-fu panda reference there ^^ Awesome film!) The black hedgehog tilted his head and subconsciously looked a Sonic for a brief moment. Sonic noticed this froze 'WTF… He saw me?' Screamed a voice in the back of his mind, and he quickly leapt to his feet and walked behind the couple just to be safe.

"Huh?" he paused and Sonic tensed up. After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke… "Good lesson," The blue hedgehog sighed with relief and slumped to the floor on his knees 'Phew' and he wiped his head. A while later, during another silent spell, Sonic ears pricked up 'Wait a minute… Isn't that lesson a bit hypocritical?!' he thought, recalling when they first met and Shadow was grief-stricken and unable to leave his past behind him.

Without warning, Maria jumped as if she had been shocked. "OH DEAR! I forgot to mention Shadow… Grandfather wants to see you in 15 minutes. For training!" she remembered,

"Maria? I think you was supposed to tell me that when you first came in the room…"

"Yeah… hehe *sweat drop* I guess I forgot,"

"Well we have been in here for about half an hour…"

"Oh dear. Well you'd better run!"

Sonic knew were this was heading at got to his feet, tensing up for a sprint.

"You know Im not allowed to run in the corridors," And Sonic relaxed.

"Well you're gonna have to hurry there otherwise -"

"SHADOW!" Yelled a voice from the door. Everyone in the room jumped, including Sonic who almost had a heart attack.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO COME TO TRAINING IN 15 MINUTES!" They noticed it was Gerald who was yelling at him.

"Errrr…"

"No 'errrs' Shadow… You're -" Gerald was abruptly interrupted by Maria who had walked in front of Shadow as subconscious defence,

"Grandfather! It was my fault,"

"Maria?"

"You told me to tell him to meet you in 15 minutes. But I forgot after we got into a conversation. I'm sorry," She put her head down and the professor sighed.

"Well then, I don't want that happening again Maria. Understand that Shadows training is very important. More important that a conversation I can assure you." He gumbled with his voice slowly changing from angry to calm.

"I do Grandfather," She turned around and looked at he friend, "You'd better go…" The professor began to exit the room and quickly ushered Shadow along.

Shadow walked past Maria, "Thank you," he whispered

"No problem,"

"Come along Shadow… We have wasted enough time as it is." With that, the ebony hedgehog quickly rushed out of the room and Sonic was hot on his heels; refusing to let this memory disappear like the last one. His mind was full of curiosity as he wanted to witness the 'training' that had been spoke of. 'I wonder what they do at this so called 'Training'? And what are they training him for?'


	6. Training Facility 1

**Oh my god! How long has it been! D: Sorry I've taken so long to update this story but I've just had a load of stuff keeping me busy… Exams, college, the works :/ But I'm back now! So have no fear :P**

**Disclaimer – Once again… I don't own any characters blah blah blah… Property of SEGA blah blah blah… you know how this thing goes XD**

**Chapter 6 – Training Facility #1**

***Flashback***

Sonic jumped in front of Shadow with a rather serious look spread across his muzzle. "Where do you think you're going?" he questioned,

"Anywhere, away from here, away from everyone, somewhere where I can't be hunted" he growled in response and put one foot forward, "Now move out of the way faker."

The blue hedgehog sighed, "What are you trying to escape from Shadow?"

"Everything, GUN, no matter what I do they're always one step behind me… Hunting me down like I'm some sort of animal." Shadows growl was now more profound and was staring at his counterpart with an 'I'm-pissed-off-with-you-so-behold-my-death-glare' look which even made Sonic wince a little. But despite this, the azure anthropomorph began to approach Shadow cautiously.

"Why do you hate GUN so much?" he asked

"Are you stupid or something? I've just told you why… But a better question would be why does GUN hate me?"

"Okay, so why does GUN hate…"

Shadow interrupted "I haven't a clue! God dammit, just move! Before I move you myself…"

Sonic stood his ground and braced for a predictable attack, "No… NOW!" He shouted and just on queue, Chris, Chuck, Tails, Amy (with her hammer drawn) had surrounded the duo. It was an ambush.

"What the?" Shadow looked around in, both, shock and anger.

"Shadow - " Warned Sonic, but before another word could escape his lips, the ebony anti-hero had sped past him, knocking him over in the process and straight through a gap between Chris and Tails.

"Plan B! Get after him!" Yelled Chuck and the blue blur got to his feet and nodded and he ran off into the distance in an attempt to catch up.

***End flashback***

Chris woke with a start. His blue eyes scanned around the room and he noticed that everyone was asleep. Well, everyone apart from a certain pink hedgehog, who was sitting next to Sonic's sleeping form, stroking his quills gently. "A-amy, is that you? " he asked quietly,

Amy flinched a little and them realised who was speaking to her, "Huh? Yeah…"

"Why are you up?"

"I could ask you the same thing," she smiled and so did Chris,

"I just had a dream, it ended up waking me," He said while rubbing his eyes,

"A bad dream?"

"Hmmm… Not really but it wasn't exactly good either," Chris slowly walked over to Amy and pulled up a chair beside her.

"Oh well, dreams can't hurt you… after all, they're just images in your mind."

"Heh, I guess. Soo… why are you up?" he puzzled, changing the subject in the process,

"Couldn't sleep" Amy looked at Sonic then got up off her seat. Chris saw that Tails has lent her one of his lab coats to keep her warm. She wrapped it around herself a bit more before wandering to one of the windows. "I just hope Sonic is okay," she mumbled staring at the star-filled sky. Seeing as Tails' workshop was in the middle of no-where, there was no light pollution and the stars were visible every night in their millions. Then, Chris turned his gaze from Amy and slowly shifted his head towards Shadow, who was still unconscious inside the Perspex room. Unknowingly, Amy also began staring at Sonics dark counterpart with worry and care in her jaded eyes.

***Meanwhile in Shadows mind***

Silence filled the metallic grey corridor as Professor Gerald and Shadow walked, with Sonic not far behind. They approached another large metal door, practically the same as every other door aboard the ARK; however, there was one main difference. This door had a bright yellow stripe down the centre and a plaque above it saying 'Training Facility #1'.

The room was password protected, so Gerald entered a 5 digit code into a small locking mechanism. A quiet 'beep' was heard and the large door slid open, revealing a large open space with a staircase leading to, what looked like, a control room on the left hand side. The room was circular and there was an array of notches, indentations, burns and scratches on the walls and floor. Something in the back of Sonic's mind told him that this was going to be very interesting.

"Okay Shadow, you know the drill," said Gerald, pointing towards the centre of room.

"Of course," he replied, walking into the middle of this unusual space. The professor began to climb the stair case to the small room that enabled a full view of what was about happen. Sonic followed him rather than being down with Shadow. The control room was filled with, what looked like, monitoring equipment. Sonic also noticed that there was a lot of scattered paperwork all over the desk in front of the large window.

"Right. Now because you was late, I'm not going to make this easy for you," Gerald spoke through a microphone,

"Heh, you know I like challenges. Is it supposed to be a punishment?" Shouted the dark hedgehog in revolt. Shadow grinned and the professor merely glared as he pushed a button on the control panel and the floor on which the hedgehog was standing began to crumble away into nothing.

"Now Shadow, I'm in no mood for your attitude."

The disappearing floor began to make Shadow a little nervous and the bit where he was standing was the only part of it still existent. "Alright, I'm sorry" he said and Gerald pushed another button and the floor dematerialised before him. Sonic was just amazed. How could this kind of technology even exist. It was 50 years in the past.

"This test is designed to monitor your edurance. You will keep at this until you black out."

"Until I black out? I think we'll be here for a while…"

"Ah, see here's the catch…" he, once again, pushed another button on the console and Shadows inhibitor rings vanished. "Let's see how long you can last without them." He smirked and with that hundreds of flying droids shot out of an opening in the wall. "Lets begin."

Sonic was completely engrossed in what was happening. His emerald eyes were fixed on the ebony 'faker' as he took on so many droids they were uncountable. Shadow was just a blur as the small robots began to explode one by one.

About 2 hours later everyone was feeling the burn. Shadow hadn't stopped to catch his breath once as the droids just kept appearing. But both Gerald and Sonic could tell that he was reaching his limit. Shadows attacks had become rather messy and uncalculated and all of a sudden a bright flash of light had hit the hedgehog squarely in the chest and was now lying on the steel floor. Professor Gerald look onward and a small grin flitted across his face. Sonic, on the other hand, was in shock at how long his twin had lasted without his rings. But the amazement on his face didn't last long as he realised that Shadow slipped into unconsciousness and this memory was fading out like the other. He cannot say it was expected though after what he had see Shadow go through. So, instead of fighting to keep this one open, he let himself slip away until he would get to enter another memory.

"MARIA!"

**~~~Authors Note ~~~**

**Voila! All done! :D I hoped it was worth the wait! Please tell me what you think ^_^ **

**Until next time ;) Au revoir x**


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